Listen to the Episode
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91
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Summary

Rebellion has erupted around the country in the aftermath of grand jury decisions to allow the murderers of Mike Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York to go free without legal charges. Why did this happen, when authorities knew that this would spark furious protests and international condemnation? To try to understand the persistence of racist police violence, Clara and Alanis delve into the historical roots of capitalism and white supremacy from the origins of European conquest and colonization of the Americas. Along with a survey of resistance and backlash since the grand jury announcements, we share excerpts from the recent feature "The Thin Blue Line is a Burning Fuse," tracing the role of anti-police anger in catalyzing nearly all recent major social upheavals around the globe. Agency, a new anarchist media project, shares an excerpt from an article analyzing the Ebola outbreak and anarchist perspectives on public health. We run through a wide range of news, discuss listener comments on transcripts and international coverage, and even offer a radical holiday song!

Notes and Links

Contents:

The Hot Wire [2:33]

Excerpt from “An Anarchist Response to Ebola”, from the Agency [14:17]

Introduction: Rebellion and Reaction Since the Grand Jury Decisions. [21:04]

Excerpt from “The Thin Blue Line is a Burning Fuse: Why Every Struggle is Now a Struggle Against the Police” [31:26]

Heads up, everyone: this episode includes some frank discussions of really horrifying racist realities, from the present day unfolding around us as well as centuries back in history. Please take care as you listen.

Anarchist Agency promotes contemporary anarchist perspectives and practices through commentary on current events, media relations, and educational campaigns. The project’s goal is to influence the way anarchists are represented in mainstream media, using several tactics, including tracking mentions of anarchists in the media and creating and circulating analysis by anarchists written for the general public. We featured an article they published by Carwil Bjork-James and Chuck Munson titled “An Anarchist Response to Ebola: Visions and Questions”.

There are innumerable books, zines, articles, and conversations that informed the history and analysis in this episode. Here is a necessarily woefully incomplete bibliography for reading more about the history of white supremacy and capitalism.

We also drew on Orlando Patterson’s Slavery and Social Death, a brilliant synthetic and analytical history of the institution of slavery. Patterson’s work was an important influence on the “Afro-pessimist” tradition of criticism, including writers such as Frank Wilderson, Saidiya Hartman, Hortense Spillers, and Jared Sexton, which deserves a much deeper engagement than we can give with our limited understanding.

Greek anarchist prisoner Nikos Romanos successfully won his demand to be allowed to attend university classes while in prison! You can read many of his statements and updates on solidarity actions via 325.nostate.net.

About CrimethInc.

CrimethInc. is a rebel alliance—a decentralized network pledged to anonymous collective action—a breakout from the prisons of our age. We strive to reinvent our lives and our world according to the principles of self-determination and mutual aid.

We believe that you should be free to dispose of your limitless potential on your own terms: that no government, market, or ideology should be able to dictate what your life can be. If you agree, let’s do something about it.